The Citizen, 2011-11-17, Page 27THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2011. PAGE 27. Skating, unpaid icetime a hot topic at new complexOn the eve of the grand opening ofthe Central Huron Community
Centre on Friday, councillors still
had questions about the services the
centre would provide.
Councillor Burkhard Metzger wasconcerned about a scheduling issuewhere several groups of users (hedid not get into specifics) wereknowingly booking ice time at the
new arena when they knew there
would be free blocks of time ahead
of the block they paid for. The idea
being, Metzger said, that the groupwould book an hour, knowing thehour previous was vacant, and get onthe ice early, essentially using the icefor one and a half or two hours, but
paying just for one.
On the other hand, he said, there
have been groups of minor hockey
players waiting for their practice tostart while the ice surface has beenflooded and is ready to go, and yet they are not yet allowed on theice.
“If the ice is ready to go, why do
these kids have to stand around and
wait?” Metzger asked. “I have a hard
time explaining that.”
There was also confusion as to the
YMCA’s involvement with the
centre’s ice surface.
When the municipality first
decided to bring the YMCA in as a
partner, councillors decided the
municipality would be responsible
for the ice surface, while the YMCA
would be responsible for the rest of
the centre.
However, there are days when the
YMCA will pay the municipality to
rent the ice surface and hold days for
its members to skate for free.
However, the YMCA is charging
rates for public usage of the ice that
are too high in some councillors’
opinions.
Councillor Dan Colquhoun said he
had to pay $8 to skate on a Sunday
afternoon with his grandson, which
he felt was too much.
“[The YMCA] doesn’t look after
the ice. They look after the walking
track. That’s what their contract is,
nothing else,” Colquhoun said. “We
pay them $233,000 to do that and
now I have to take out a YMCA half-
day pass for $8 to skate with my
grandson.”
Councillor Marg Anderson asked
if the centre had authorized any time
slots for ‘parents and tots’ skating or
any other similar programs thatwould provide free ice time toparents and young children wherethey wouldn’t have to worry aboutmore advanced skaters moving
around the rink.
“Staff has not scheduled that,” said
Chief Administrative Officer Kevin
McLlwain. “We had talked about it
though.
“I think it’s a great idea.”
After Anderson’s suggestion,
however, Deputy-Mayor Dave Jewitt
mentioned that such a program
might jeopardize YMCA
memberships because use of the
skating rink is being paid for as part
of a membership.
“It’s built into a YMCA
membership,” Jewitt said, “but then
we’re turning around and giving it
for free to someone else.”
Mayor Jim Ginn shared Jewitt’s
concerns about charging some to
skate, but not others.
“We don’t want to cut into our
paid time,” he said. “Fees are
subsidized as it is.”
Council decided to have the
facilities manager Steve Campbell
look into the possibility of having a
parents and tots skating period
implemented into the centre’s
weekly schedule approximately
three times a week. Anderson was
hesitant to include times that these
skates would take place until hearing
from the public.
Council authorized staff to
investigate the issue and bring a
report back to the next meeting of
council.
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
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The CitizenJust sign here and here and...
The London Knights team probably had sore wrists when they left their special practice at the
Blyth and District Community Centre on Nov. 9, but it wasn’t due to weight training or wrist
shots. After their practice the players lined up to sign autographs in the upstairs hall of the
centre. (Denny Scott photo)